'Disgusted' Portsmouth couple with three small children say ‘enough is enough’ as mouse infestation now sees rodents popping up in oven and child’s bed

Besieged Chris Masters, 32, and his wife Nicola, 28, have admitted they are at the end of their tether after being subjected to the grim living conditions for nearly two years.

The couple have been forced to live among an influx of the increasingly ‘brave’ vermin in their two-bedroom Portsmouth City Council maisonette at Lords Court, Lords Street, in Fratton.

The vile situation has seen the apartment littered in mouse droppings with them also seen in a pushchair, child’s car seat and clothes. The couple have two boys, aged one and two, and a four-month old girl.

The alarming predicament has been exacerbated by worries their one-year-old boy’s upset stomach has been caused by food contaminated by mice crawling over it.

City council instructed pest control, who failed to show-up on a previous occasion, put down bait boxes on Wednesday before announcing they would return next week.

Chris, who wants the council to move his family into another place amid health concerns, told The News: ‘Enough is enough now. We are at the end of our tether. It’s disgusting - I can’t put it into words. No-one should have to live like this.

‘It’s terrible and just unreal. My wife can’t sleep worrying whether mice are on the children.

‘On Wednesday morning mice were under the duvet in our child’s bed. There were mouse droppings in the mattress.

‘My wife even found them in the cooker on Tuesday night. We had a new kitchen fitted last week and four mice were found on a sticky mat.

‘Our son has suffered from an upset stomach for eight months which suddenly cleared up when we weren’t there for a short while and then as soon as we’re back he gets diarrhoea again.’

Chris has tried to force action from the council but feels the family have been left to fend for themselves. ‘I went to the council before and they said pest control would turn up. My wife waited in most of the day but they never showed,’ he said.

‘They turned up on Wednesday and just put some bait boxes down and said the kitchen units need to come out to repair the holes. It was like “we’ve put some bait boxes down and just want out now”.’

It means the family’s nightmare is set to continue as they wait for answers from the council.

Chris said the ‘stressful’ experience had been heightened after Nicola’s car was recently written off by a lady reversing into it before a wing mirror was then smashed on a courtesy car.

He added: ‘It’s one thing after another. We see mice every day. They are getting braver and come out during the day now.

‘It is so stressful. We can’t use the cooker and are having to live on microwave meals. We need to be rehomed. We were overcrowded as it was.’

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A spokesman for the council said: ‘We are sorry that Mr Masters has experienced this infestation but are aware that our environmental health pest control team and housing team have been actively engaging with him to resolve this satisfactorily.’